In the Project,2012
Production still of Video Work

In 2011, Eric Bridgeman was Artist in Residence at Lethbridge University in Alberta Canada. During his residency, he documented his personal progress in the studio in the form of ritualistic video diary entries; an edited version of which forms the basis of this work.

Bridgeman’s acute sense of isolation during the onset of winter at the foot of the Rocky Mountains was amplified by the impassive nature of the locals who regarded the interloper with guarded cordiality and called him “Blacky”. Bridgeman responded by gathering a collection of objects painted in lurid colours, then stepping into character as his muse, his toy golliwog, stating “I gave in to being the best outsider that I could become”. The resultant work is an explosion of colour, movement and creative expression, a powerful representation of an artist In the Project.